The present invention relates to a queue monitoring and/or control system, and particularly to a system for monitoring and/or controlling a queue of persons waiting for service by a plurality of clerks.
One particular application of the present invention is in commercial banks servicing a large number of customers. According to the present practise, the customers form a single queue which is serviced by a plurality of tellers, and as each customer reaches the beginning of the queue the customer proceeds to the first available teller. In such a system, the queue length will increase with an increase in the rate of customers joining the queue or with a decrease in the number of tellers servicing the queue, and will decrease with a decrease in the number of customers joining the queue or with an increase in the number of tellers servicing the queue. If the queue becomes too long, this increases the waiting time of the customers and breeds dissatisfaction; but if the queue disappears altogether, this results in one or more tellers being idle and thereby a wastage of labor.
At the present time such queues are generally monitored and controlled by visual observation and personal judgement. However, such a system is very inefficient since it is not only imprecise, resulting in lines becoming too long or completely eliminated, but is also time-consuming since it requires continuous observation by management personnel.
While queue monitoring and control systems are particularly useful in commercial bank applications, it will be appreciated that the same problems exist with respect to other applications, such as official institutions servicing the public, wherever a queue of persons is formed waiting for service by a plurality of clerks.